Sincerity is a learned practice
by pSilence
Summary: "Nozomi sits down with a barely concealed wince, head tilted back into the setting sun. It gives her this ethereal glow. Like an angel, but the old-fashioned kind – the three headed, wheel-of-fire, terrible kind." (In which Eli is a demon hunter and Nozomi is her half-demon partner)


**yea i'm starting another au while zombie au is still going what of it punk**

 **this one's much more fleshed out, there's no making out tho i'm sorry about that.. not yet...**

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Hunting isn't exactly the sort of profession Eli would have thought she'd be pursuing for the better half of her high school career, much less with a _demon_ by her side.

Alright, _half-demon_.

Eli sneaks a covert glance at Nozomi, chatting away with a small group of girls in their class - no doubt about the recent assignment, if the paper on her desk is anything to go by. They don't know. They don't know anything.

They don't know that Toujou Nozomi is anything _but_ an ordinary human. It's all a façade. Eli hides the disgust on her face by rummaging around in her bag, full of homework she doesn't intend to look at tonight. On cue, Nozomi perks up at the action and excuses herself from the conversation smoothly.

"Elichi~" Her lilting, sing-song voice calls as she stalks closer. Eli can feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end the closer they get. "Are you leaving, so soon?"

"Yes." Eli says, ignoring that teasing tone. "I have work to do. You coming?"

Nozomi says nothing, but laughs and fingers the bag over her shoulder. Her eyes glint with something otherworldly, just for a moment, in the afternoon sun.

Of course, they're still the same old teal colour as always. Everyone else would be none the wiser.

Eli stands up, and that alone is enough to draw attention to her for the smallest moment. Nozomi always said she had a strong presence. The moment is not long, though Eli can feel sideways glances directed at her and her "friend" as they leave the classroom for the day.

"Where to today, Elichi?" Nozomi asks, matching Eli's even pace with a light hearted step of her own. There are plenty of students around this time of day, but Nozomi is very careful.

"I don't know, you tell me." Eli returns, hoping her voice doesn't sound too harsh, like she's talking through gritted teeth in pretence of friendliness with her worst enemy. Not too far from the truth, actually. Nozomi smiles, just smiles, until they're out of the gate and in relative safety.

Relative – as Eli found out the hard way, demons and their associates are everywhere.

Nozomi stops by the corner, waiting for the green light to cross. "By the bridge," she says cryptically, continuing on as if there had been no break in the conversation, "by the lake, in the park. It's been a while since we last checked the area, and I feel a very distinct pull every now and then."

"Fine." Eli agrees, folding her arms. "It's a bit of a walk, though. We might be later than usual."

"I don't mind." Nozomi turns with a smile that's more sad than happy. "It's not like there's anyone waiting for me at home."

Right. Eli drops the conversation, suddenly feeling very awkward and unprofessional. The light goes green and Nozomi crosses without another word, not waiting for Eli to catch up or anything. She clicks her tongue. Of course.

"Wait," Eli calls out as they pass a familiar lane between a house and the pet store. It reeks. "Just one moment."

Nozomi waits, a loyal pet on the sidewalk and a watchdog against any interference as Eli ducks into the unused laneway and prods around for a loose slab of concrete. It's easy enough to lift, if she pries her fingers under it in the right way and pulls. And underneath, a plated metal box inscribed with her family crest. It's about as long as her forearm, and opens to reveal a long stiletto knife sheathed in shiny black leather.

"I can't believe you have enough of those to hide around the city," Nozomi muses as Eli steps out, a hardened look on her face and a knife tucked away in her bag.

Eli clicks her tongue. "It never hurts to be prepared." She says simply. It helps when your family has a long heritage of demon hunting, too.

She feels a bit safer with a weapon on person, and feels Nozomi's eyes linger just a little too long on the bag where it's hidden.

Instead of saying anything about it, Nozomi cocks her head in the unasked question – " _Shall we go?_ " After a moment, Eli jerks her head in a nod - " _Yes._ "

They reach the park earlier than expected. It's kind of quiet out, surprisingly so. The park is also relatively empty, except for a couple sitting on the bench some way away and a man walking his dog over by the lake. Trees seclude the pathway around the lake from the road, barricading off any strange happenings.

All in all, Eli thinks as she sets her bag by her feet, it's the perfect place for a demon to hunt.

So, she's just got to hunt them first.

Eli is quite content to stand and wait, but Nozomi insists they sit at an empty park bench, and she complies when Nozomi reasons with her ("you wouldn't want to look suspicious now, would you?"), and Eli throws her bag onto the bench beside her. Nozomi scoots up nice and close, and Eli feels a shiver run down her spine.

"You told your sister, right?" Nozomi says suddenly, after the man and his dog jog past. Eli stares ahead, frown deepening.

"Of course not." She retorts. And how could she? Her sister is a paragon of innocence, a _normal_ person. Eli doesn't want to ruin that for her. Besides, even her parents don't know the exact details of her nightly excursions other than the well-used "student council meeting" excuse. It's not that Eli's afraid of them finding out she's hunting demons on her own accord, but rather, that they'll find out she's hunting alongside the very thing she's been trained to kill.

Nozomi hums and joins Eli in her brooding. "It's better that she find out from you than your parents," she says.

"What do you know of my parents, anyway, Toujou-san?"

"I know," says Nozomi, eyes closed, "I know what they've done to demons like myself. Are you feeling okay today, Elichi~?" There's a joking, teasing tone in her voice but it still stabs a pang of guilt into Eli's heart. Right, she forgot.

Demon Hunters _killed_ demons. Nozomi had no parents. Even Eli could put two and two together, and over time, she thinks she has. The worst thing is, she understands that hint of unease when Nozomi talks about her parents.

Perhaps, then, the one thing keeping her and Nozomi together was a mutual dislike of the Demon Hunter's Association, of which the Ayase family played a major part. Otherwise, one or both of them would be dead by now.

"… It's almost sundown. Do you think…?" Eli turned, the proverbial olive branch offered between them. She waited, bated breath.

"I can feel something. Stronger than I thought. If you're feeling off, we can do this another time, Ayase-san." _Ayase-san_ again. The branch had been tentatively received. Eli will never quite get used to how Nozomi swaps so quickly from public _Elichi_ to the private, distant _Ayase-san_ , though. Maybe one day she'll pick one or the other.

"No," Eli insists, unzipping her bag and taking out the sword. The scabbard looks sort of like a closed umbrella if you don't look too closely. Hopefully that should do it. "I'm fine. Cover me."

Nozomi nods, and goes through the motions – her eyes close, and Eli looks away, but can see the demon markings flare up on Nozomi's face: thin, spider-web trails spinning out from her eyes and across her cheeks, down her neck. Eli feels the illusion take hold more from practice than mentally. It's a safety net, just in case things go wrong. Near useless against demons, but great for the potential witnesses. Then, Nozomi's eyes open and she smiles a razor sharp smirk, her usually warm, teal eyes now black as a void, and the thin, web-like pattern continues in her irises. These are the eyes of a monster, Eli thinks, choking down her spit. These are the teeth of someone who has tasted human flesh – and, possibly, enjoyed it.

No, no. Eli shakes it off and double checks her blade. Nozomi explicitly stated she never resorted to such barbaric manners to consume souls. Even so…

There's a movement down closer to the lake, where the oblivious couple still sits, gazing into each other's eyes. Eli and Nozomi share a glance. Damage control time.

"Excuse me," Eli starts as they draw closer, trying to get their attention. Nozomi lags behind, still blatantly in her demon form, but hidden (hopefully) behind an illusion. The couple look up, and Eli can still feel the lingering attraction in their gaze. "The park is actually being closed off for repairs. We'd really appreciate it if you would move along, please."

With a bit of _persuasion_ from the demon behind her, the couple finally heave themselves off the bench, still holding hands. It's both sad, and amusing. "Come on, Tamaki," says the taller one, "we'll find some other place with a pretty lake."

The two hunters watch them leave and wait until they are out of sight before dropping the pleasantries and looking around. Nozomi's getting restless, and Eli can see the patterns in her eyes working. It's close.

Sure enough, just across the lake, a hooded figure seemingly appears. They look around for a moment, perplexed. Nozomi smirks and chuckles. "We cleared their prey away," she explains softly, and Eli allows herself exactly one derisive snort of bemusement.

But the moment of triumph does not last, because then the demon flash-steps around the lake in two quick bursts, and Eli barely has time to draw her blade before the figure is standing but a few paces away. There's a peek of brown hair under the hood, and tell-tale demon markings on their face, but other than that and their under average height, Eli can't decipher their appearance. Their hands are tucked firmly into the jacket pockets, and she gets the feeling there's a reason for that.

"Good afternoon," the demon says with a grin Eli can hear more than see, "it's a bit odd to see two girls out this late on a school day – in uniform, no less! Let me guess, Otonokizaka-?"

Eli goes to say something but is held back by Nozomi, whose markings like tribal carvings seem darker than ever in the presence of the stronger demon.

"It's even stranger to see a single girl on her own this late, and a suspicious one, at that." She says in a voice much softer than Eli would have used. The demon cocks her head and throws back her hood, revealing, for a split second, blackened eyes with a pinprick pupil of glowing red, and thick, jagged marks bursting out from the eyes and forehead. Her mouth splits open into a wicked grin, showing off all her pointed teeth, and Eli can see her prehensile tongue flicker behind them.

"Hunters." The demon says simply, looking Eli right in the eye. She knows then that Nozomi's illusion has done nothing to protect her from it, and hopes to God that she's not recognised. But nobody makes a move. "A _demon_ demon hunter. Now that's the oddest thing that I've seen today."

Nozomi smiles pleasantly, but the pleasantness is offset by the eeriness. "Half-demon, actually."

The demon reels back a little, giving her opponents a size-up. Eli thinks it's clear that the demon was not intending on fighting without consent, and has to give it to her for that, but it seems Nozomi's little comment was construed as resistance – which it probably was. There's a sharp, prickling feeling.

A flash-step, and the demon aims her fist into Nozomi's torso before either of them can make a move. Nozomi staggers to the ground from the impact, clutching her stomach and wincing. The demon flashes a few more times, inflicting a number of punches to her opponent. Eli's eyes widen in panic, and she manages to unsheathe the blade in time to counter the next attack. Unfortunately, the demon was counting on it, and twists aside at the last minute, dodging the blade. Her hand comes down behind Eli's shoulder as she thrusts forward, effectively pushing her to the ground with her own momentum.

It feels like a curb-stomp battle, but the tides are against them. And the demon hasn't even used both hands yet. Luckily, Nozomi manages to recover in time to tackle the demon to the ground and give Eli the chance to scrabble to her feet. Good thing this park is so secluded, she thinks. Hopefully one of these demons has put up a safety precaution against the odd passer-by stumbling in on the action.

Once Eli is on her feet, she catches a glimpse of Nozomi struggling to keep the demon on the ground. Nozomi is strong. The demon, unfortunately, is stronger. She kicks Nozomi away and flash-steps around her to disorientate before appearing behind her to deliver a kick to the back. It never lands.

Eli aims a disarming strike at the demon with the hilt of the knife rather than the blade. It's more effective at this point, to weaken it down before trying to stab it. The hilt drives into the demon's temple, and the skin around the contact hardens like scales for a moment in a well-known defence mechanism. She topples over, flashing back some to give her some space. All this flashing back and forth is no doubt tiring her, judging by the deepening marks across her forehead.

"Nice," Nozomi comments rather unnecessarily. Eli makes a pincer motion with her thumb and forefinger.

They circle around, spreading out. Hopefully pincering the demon against the lake proves a worthwhile tactic. First, Nozomi strikes out with an illusion, a sword this time, and it's only partially corporeal. The demon easily dodges the novice attacks, but Nozomi has range that the demon does not. Eli, however, has the real weapon, and takes her on from the side.

The demon does an excellent job of avoiding every attack with a flash, parry or duck. She's much faster than Eli or Nozomi. But there's two against one and they slowly drive her back. Eli can't help but twist a smirk.

And then, just like that, the tables turn. The demon flashes between the both of them without warning, pulling her other hand from her pocket and flaring her now-clawed hands. Crap. Of course this demon had another weapon up her sleeve. They were being played. They _were being played_.

Before Eli can shout out a warning, twin claws raked down Nozomi's side as she turned, too slow, too slow. Eli drops her defensive stance and sprints for it. Why is she panicking so? Why does fear course through her veins and jolt her forward, by Nozomi's side? She drops to her knees, not afraid to pull away Nozomi's arm from the wound. It looks painfully deep, and oozes with a thick, black liquid that Eli knows to be demon blood. The skin around the wound is trying it's best to harden, but it looks like nothing more than a rash. Nozomi always did have a bad metabolism.

"So," says the demon, sheathing her claws slightly so they no longer drag across the ground, "the human cares for you, after all." She turns her attention to Eli, who looks up with fire in her narrowed eyes, hands clutching the knife until her knuckles turn white. "Don't you?"

Eli grits her teeth. She can hear Nozomi's rattling, shallow gasps as her body attempts to fix the damage. There's blood in her lungs, for sure. Resolute, the hunter sways to her feet, planted firmly to the ground.

"Well, this was fun while it lasted," the demon shrugs nonchalantly, and fixes her hands back in her pockets after throwing her hood back over her head. With a grin and a nod, she flips back, and then flashes with a shudder, and she's gone completely. Eli doesn't relax until she's sure they're alone.

She's grateful they're alive. Honestly, that higher level demon could have killed them both.

"Eli…" She hears Nozomi's voice like a thin whisper, and whirls around, knife sheathing. Nozomi is getting up now, clutching at her side. Black seeps between her fingers like thick treacle.

"Don't speak." Eli snaps. She wants to do _something_ but ends up bouncing on her heels. "Not until you've healed."

"Ah, sorry~"

"What did I just _say_."

Eli leads them both over to the park bench where their bags lay waiting. She quickly shoves the blade inside her own, making a note to revisit the box before she goes home for the night. Nozomi sits down with a barely concealed wince, head tilted back into the setting sun. It gives her this ethereal glow. Like an angel, but the old-fashioned kind – the three headed, wheel-of-fire, terrible kind.

Minutes go by before Nozomi's breathing settles, and the marks across her face and eyes retreat, leaving the skin as smooth as it had been before. When she opens her eyes, they are a familiar teal, and they're soft. "I'm sorry, Elichi… Ah, Ayase-san." She corrects herself with a sad shake of the head, and Eli clenches her jaw and looks on ahead.

It sounds so empty.

Eli isn't sure what to say, though, so she sits with her hands folded in her lap and her eyes anywhere but her partner. This is the worst part, the in-between parts. They're not hunting, they're not playing pretend at school, they're just… there.

Nozomi gets up and turns, clutching her bag behind her back with both hands. She leans forward, into Eli's vision. "I'm feeling better now," she says with a smile, "thanks for waiting."

"… You almost got yourself killed." Eli shoots back, getting up herself. Her bag feels heavy all of a sudden. Nozomi laughs, a sharp laugh that's both filled with mirth and an underlying danger.

"Ah, I'm a lot tougher than that! Do you really have such a low expectation of me?"

"Of course not."

So this is… banter. Eli doesn't let herself smile until she's a few paces ahead and Nozomi can't see. She's never really had friends before, and like hell is she going to consider Nozomi one, but at least this little game is the closest thing they can get to it.

"Thank you," whispers Nozomi - so _gently_ \- as they approach the street, drawing closer. Eli's neck prickles, her stomach churns. Nozomi presses against her arm. For a long while, she's not sure whether to reply to the sincerity in those two words. She's not sure she can.

"You're welcome." She says at last, eyes trained ahead. Eli is so sure her words sound as sincere as she hopes them to be. It's getting easier to fake it like that.

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 **word: 3164**

 **youre welcome.**


End file.
